Grand Trunk Trail – Brimfield

Last time we hiked in Brimfield, it was December and fresh snow was on the ground. Now, it’s April, and on a beautiful sunny day we wanted a hike without too much mud (it rained all week, and snow is still melting) and without too much strain on the legs.  Brimfield seemed to fit the bill again.

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As you can see, it was a beautiful early Spring day. The sky was rich blue with a bright warm sun, and giant puffy clouds drifted overhead.

We parked at the Route 20 parking lot, and enjoyed a picnic lunch in the sun.  Temperatures were around 50 but the 20 mph winds made it feel a bit more brisk.  There were a handful of cars in the lot, and we passed several families walking with dogs and/or kids, as well as a couple sets of cyclists.  We weren’t the only ones thinking today was a good day for the Grand Trunk.

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I set out trying to find signs of Spring, but didn’t come up with much.  Most of the snow was melted, save for a few shaded areas, but there was still lots of ice on the standing water.  We saw no rabbits, no snakes, no turtles, and no frogs — all animals we’d seen on our summer trips here.  Plenty of birds were singing, though, and that helped.

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As you can see, the trail is broad and flat; it becomes a bit more winding later on but still remains a very bike- and horse-friendly trail.

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On both sides of the trail were frequent small ponds, fed by the melt.  Most had some ice still in them.

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For a good chunk of our walk, a plane flew overhead, perhaps some kind of training exercise.  It would do wide banking flyovers at fairly low altitude and then repeat.  I’ve encountered this sort of thing before in this area, at the nearby campground and the nearby reservoir. I didn’t get a shot of the plane at its lowest but I did snap one on a higher fly-by.033

 

We followed the trail for nearly two miles, crossed a dirt road, and almost made it to the other parking area where we’d parked for our December hike.  037

It was there that we saw the first real new growth of the year we’d encountered — bright green thorn bushes.  The first thing to grow is the nastiest?  We turned around and headed back at this point, rather than continuing on towards the other end of the trail.

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Walking back out of the more wooded areas we entered the broad, flat section again, and were reminded of the total devastation caused by the 2011 tornado.  It’s likely that the damage to this landscape will outlast us.  We finished our walk quietly, thinking of what the years ahead will bring both to us, and to this scarred section of land.

 

 

 

 

Sibley Farm – Spencer

This is our second trip to the Sibley Farm property.  The first trip is described in a previous post.

It was a beautiful day to be outdoors yesterday, as far as winter days go.  The cold temperatures didn’t seem too bitter since the skies were clear and the air was calm.  With errands to run we only had a short window to enjoy the outdoors, so we returned to Sibley Farm to explore some of the trails we missed two weeks ago.

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This time, we forked left from the parking area instead of right, and followed Sibley Trail (as seen on the map).  The trail is well marked and immediately settles into a light forest marked with occasional stands of mountain laurel.

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The snow covering the ground made for pleasant views in all directions, while still being light enough that we could easily walk it in boots without needing better equipment.  A few others had been on these trails recently but the further we went from the parking lot, the more we were breaking ground ourselves instead of following directly in others’ tracks.

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The terrain was quite uneven, and we took a steep descent towards the “Otter Pond” marked on the map.  We weren’t too excited about having to make this climb again, but what goes down must come up….  We paused to take some pictures by the pond before deciding to turn around here to avoid any issues with being late to get our daughter from gynmastics.

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We returned the way we came,starting back up the hill we had just descended.

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Then, we forked off to check out the large open fields marked on the map.  To do this we took first a detour onto the Bobolink Trail and then connected to the Midstate Trail. The Midstate walks along two large fields atop the hill here, making for a much different view.

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We walked along these fields for the last part of the hike, and then headed down some hills back to the parking area.

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It was nice to revisit the property with snow on the ground and to take a completely different set of trails than our previous visit.  We only covered a bit over two miles, but it was refreshing and invigorating to be out in the woods again in the crisp clear air.

Sibley Farm / Burncoat Pond – Spencer

For the second day in a row, we were able to get out for a hike. Today was our usual Saturday, with a couple hour break while Evie was in gymnastics. We were forced to leave a bit later than usual due to a delivery (my snowblower has been repaired; you can all thank me later when we get no snow this year) so we picked a spot close to home which was new to us.

In Spencer, a couple towns away, there’s a large plot of land (the Sibley and Warner Farm land, plus the Burncoat Pond Wildlife Sanctuary) with 8 miles of trails on it, managed and preserved by a special partnership of three separate groups: the Mass Audubon Society, the Greater Worcester Land Trust, and the Common Ground Land Trust.  You can read about it preservation in the Audubon Society press release here and check out the map here.  I’ve wanted to visit it for a while but hadn’t made it out there yet.  We decided to do a few miles there today and see what it was all about.

The parking area is on Greenville Rd, which is right off of Route 9 in Spencer.  It’s very easy to find.  At the lot is a massive informational kiosk outlining the partnership that has preserved this land, and outlining some of the trails and regulations for use of the land on the different parts of the property (no pets or hunting in the wildlife sanctuary, for example).

We decided to head into the Sanctuary first, following the Flat Rock Trail.  The trail slopes up a large open field and then enters a thick wood, as seen below.

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The trail is very interesting but not difficult.  It is winding and uneven, but not steep in any spots.

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It’s a mix of younger trees and some old behemoths.

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We stepped off the trail briefly to explore a stone path out to an island on Burncoat Pond.  The island had views of the homes on the south section of the pond, and I imagine residents must frequently come out to the island either by boat or across the ice, as we found a fairly permanent fire pit loaded with charcoal there.011

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Not far from the island, we found Richard’s Overlook, with beautiful views from a boulder to the entire northern part of the pond.

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We continued to explore a bit, after finishing the Flat Rock Trail and moving on to the Kalmia Loop, dense with mountain laurel.

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As we approached the two mile mark and checked the time, we realized we couldn’t do a longer loop, and cut the hike short, returning back mostly the way we had come.  We took a small detour on the Bluebird Trail which approached the parking area from a slightly different angle.

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The Bluebird Trail also corresponds with the Midstate Trail for a few feet, giving me another Midstate Trail sign photo-op.

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Back at the car we found we had finished three miles.  We were glad to get out of the chilly air, and on the ride home the snow began to fall.

We barely covered the surface of this property today and fully intend to come back and explore many more of the trails.  We are fortunate to have so many great and large properties within convenient distance of our home.

Yellick Conservation Area – Northboro

Our first hike of 2015 was a spur-of-the-moment excursion in Northboro, a town we once called home and where my mother still lives.  We were already in town and ended up able to drop our daughter off with Grandma for a couple hours.  I pulled up the Northboro Trails Committee website and looked for something close by.  We ended up starting at the Coyote Trail, which meanders through the Yellick Conservation Area.  You can read more about the area in this news article I found later, which pointed me nicely to this updated map.

The trail begins at a generous parking area off a very steep driveway which connects to Hudson Road, a well-traveled road which connects Route 20 to the Solomon Pond Mall in Marlboro.  We’d seen the parking area many times in our travels in town but had never stopped there.

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The trail starts off strangely, hooking southwest along the Assabet River and basically through some back yards (signposts helpfully tell you to stay to the left of the markers to avoid trespassing) until you reach a narrow but sturdy bridge which crosses the fast-moving, shallow river.

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Once across the river, the trail immediately turns back the way it came.  It is fairly well-marked, but is precarious and narrow as it closely hugs the shoreline on the hillside.  I would not attempt this trail in any kind of wet weather, or with any ice or snow on the ground.  It wouldn’t take much to end up sliding down the hillside into the water (what I’m showing below isn’t that bad; there were some hairier parts).

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After that initial section, a short spur continues northeast, labeled the Tall Grass Trail.  It follows the river through some very thick grassland; without the work that keeps this trail clear, it would be impassable very shortly, overrun with brambles and briars.

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We paused a moment to take a picture and then returned to the intersection with the Birdsong Trail.

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The Birdsong Trail is a totally different beast than what we were just following.  Flat and easy to follow, it moves through several terrain types before settling into a rocky pine forest.

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The marsh is never far, as you can see in the picture below.  Residential neighborhoods were never far either; you could see houses along much of the trail.  This, combined with the ever-present drone of I-290 in the distance, reminded us that we were definitely on a suburban trail.  Still, the extra pool of volunteers and foot traffic that comes with a suburban trail provides some real benefit; the paths were clear and well-kept, and surprisingly clean of litter.

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We had gone a bit over a mile and a half when we decided to turn back.  Looking at the maps, it’s clear that we stopped just as the Birdsong Trail was meeting up with the Old Farm Trail.  We were very close to Route 20 but didn’t press through to see it (trust me, we’ve seen plenty of Route 20 over the years).

At that point, we turned back and followed the trail back the way we came.  There-and-back trails are a mixed blessing; it’s nice that once you decide to stop, you know exactly what terrain and distance separates you from returning to the trailhead.  On the other hand, it’s not very exciting to cover the same ground in the reverse direction.

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As we returned to the parking area, the sun was beginning to fall behind the hills and some clouds made it seem later than it really was.  A nearly-full moon hovered over the treeline and I tried my best to capture the moment.

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Overall we were impressed with this trail, and wish we had come at a time when we could have explored the Old Farm Trail as well.  That would have changed our three mile hike into a five mile one, though, and we didn’t have that kind of time.

The trail was not particularly challenging, other than the slippery narrow sections along the hillside near the start.  Paths are clearly marked, with blue plastic blazes nailed to trees along the first section, and orange painted blazes or orange ribbons tied around trees on the second section.  Even in areas where the blazes aren’t clear, the path is well worn and frequent footbridges over the many small streams make it clear where you should go next.

Given the proximity to the river, I’m sure in mosquito season this would be a totally different experience.  And, as I said, I would avoid the Coyote Trail if any snow was on the ground (though the Birdsong trail would probably be pleasant in the snow).

So: one 2015 hike down, many to go.  I look forward to sharing them here….

 

(Solo) South Spencer Rail Trail – Spencer

Two Saturdays in a row, holiday activities kept Jess and I from our now-weekly outdoor explorations.  When on the third Saturday, the last before Christmas, she departed for a family shopping excursion, I decided to get out into the woods, even if only for an hour or so.

Trying to stay close to home and not lose the whole day, I picked the South Spencer Rail Trail (read about it briefly at the Spencer Parks and Recreation web page), also called the Depot Trail.  It is a two-mile, mostly-flat trail connecting South Spencer Rd. and Chestnut St. in the center of Spencer, built along the abandoned South Spencer Railway (built in 1878 to connect two rail stations in Spencer).  We’d been here once before as a family to explore some geocaches, though we only covered half the trail that day.

Part of my goal with picking a rail trail was auditioning it for winter hiking, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing.  The only reason I think it might not pass muster is its use as a snowmobile trail as well.

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The trail looks like the below picture for much of its length; a wide, fairly flat trail, partially graveled but rutted and uneven.  Over the course of the two miles, I encountered wooded areas (including a section of Spencer State Forest), ball parks, and residential areas to each side of the trail.

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This unmarked side trail headed into Spencer State Forest.  Given it was unmarked and we’re technically still in deer season, I decided to pass.  Looking at another map now, though, I see it’s technically part of the rail trail and I probably could have explored it.  Next time, I guess….

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Shortly after that side trail is a pond which was half-frozen.

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On the opposite side of the pond, another side trail, this one even less inviting (and not on state property).

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All along the trail, there are spots like the below where the trail meets up with unmarked side trails.  I suspect these may be dirt bike trails or snowmobile trails; Spencer is littered with snowmobile trails for some reason (I’m sure they’re great, I’m just always surprised to see them!).

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As the trail continued, it got a little less well-maintained.  Here you can see that the drainage isn’t as good and the trail serves as a runoff for groundwater.

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Still, lots of pretty little ponds and such along the side.

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Here, some of the water runoff was still active, flowing rapidly under a icy surface.

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I found two of these markers along the trail; I’m not sure that they were intended for.  They were marked with “W”s.  The trail was heading northeast at this point, for what it’s worth.064

After two miles, the trail unceremoniously ends at a residential street.  There is no sign, just some concrete pylons marking the end of the trail.  I turned around and walked back, this time heading southwest and into the sun.

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One more picture at the pond, and then back home, to do some housecleaning and gift wrapping….

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